Followers of a controversial preacher and televangelist prevented rescue workers from getting to victims of a collapsed building in Lagos last week, in an accident that claimed the lives of at least 84 people, according to a Nigerian official.
Nigerian Emergency Management Agency said Friday that lives were lost as a result of church officials preventing workers from rescuing people trapped inside the multi-storey shopping mall and hotel in the port city.
NEMA’s spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye told the Associated Press that the building collapsed at 12:44pm on September 12, but emergency responders did not get full access to the site until two days later.
Described as a megachurch, the building was linked to Temitope Balogun Joshua, better known as TB Joshua.
The wealthy preacher has claimed to have miraculously cured people from illnesses, including HIV, and foreseen the untimely death of pop star Michael Jackson.
Farinloye said that rescuers lost critical hours when most lives are saved. Most of the victims were South African.
Nigerian media reported that rescue workers were attacked by church members who also smashed the camera of a TV journalist at the site.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s high commissioner to Nigeria warned on Friday that the death toll could rise in the coming days.
It is believed that there were 349 South Africans visiting the church at the time of the crash.
South Africa has sent a team of 10 disaster management personnel, including doctors to help in the search.
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